5 Tips For Choosing The Right Equipment For Your Factory

The success of a manufacturing plant is largely down to the quality of its equipment.

It’s important that you carefully consider which machinery and supplies you need for your factory and how best to acquire them.

To help you invest in the right equipment, here are 5 tips to consider. 

1. Weigh up the ROI

Acquiring equipment for your factory is going to cost you a lot of money.

To help you work out how much to spend, consider the ROI (return on investment) that you will get out of equipment.

You don’t want to spend huge amounts of money on equipment that takes decades to pay off.

At the same time, you don’t want to buy cheap inefficient equipment that breaks regularly, results in restricted order sizes or leads to health hazards in the manufacturing industry.

Ideally, you want to find the sweet spot. Equipment that’s not too expensive, but that is also efficient, allowing you to pay it off rapidly and make bigger, faster profits. 

2. Automate what you can

Consider what you can afford to automate.

Manually carrying out tasks may save you money upfront.

However, automation will save you time, money, energy and bottleneck problems in manufacturing in the long run.

Prioritize automating the most time-consuming, the most dangerous and the most difficult tasks.

You can research different ways to automate manufacturing processes online and determine which ones are realistic with your budget. 

3. Consider scalability

Don’t limit your future growth by buying equipment that can only handle very small orders.

If you have dreams of one day making big orders and these dreams seem feasible, consider whether it’s better to invest in more heavy-duty equipment.

You won’t feel restricted as your company grows, nor will you have to go through the hassle of buying new equipment if you decide to take on those bigger orders.

Of course, if you think you will be happy sticking to small orders, feel free to stick to basic equipment. 

Read 20 Secrets To Make Your Company Future Ready

4. Know when to go bespoke

While you can buy pre-made equipment for various tasks, you should consider whether bespoke equipment could have greater advantages.

For example, ordering a chemical mixing tank built to specs could allow you to get the right size for your ideal batch.

Buying a pre-made mixing tank may cost less, but may not be able to find one in the ideal size – which could either lead to restricted quantities or unnecessary waste. 

5. Test equipment when possible

You may not be able to test equipment if you’re getting it custom-made or ordering it from another country.

However, in cases where you’re able to buy equipment locally, consider testing it out to see a) how easy it is to use, and b) whether you think it will be right for your needs.

Some machinery suppliers allow you to carry out a factory acceptance test (FAT) – which involves testing the equipment in a demo factory before it is shipped.

Other suppliers may be able to ship equipment to you for a trial period so that you can get an idea of how it runs in your own factory. 

Read 15 Importance of High-Quality Equipment